• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Jill Robinson

Writer, Photographer, Adventurer

Header Right

  • Home
  • About
    • Awards
    • Interviews
    • Speaking & Teaching
  • Writing
    • Articles
    • Books
  • Blog
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

Bouncing Back

April 1, 2012 By Jill Robinson

Shredding Ajax, or Ajax shredding me

I learned to snowboard something close to 14 years ago. It was one of those sports I learned fairly quickly, and the excitement that came along with it kept me going back to play again and again. I didn’t dedicate enough time to get to more than perhaps an advanced beginner status, but I got to the point where I could do what I wanted and didn’t fall often.

But then other things took more priority during the winter. Time passed, and before I knew it, it had been 10 years since I’d touched a snowboard. What I kept in my mind was the level of boarder I’d been way back when. So when I got the chance recently to refresh my shredding skills in Aspen, I expected to jump right in where I left off.

I knew that there would be a fair amount of character-building moments—where I’d have trouble with something that I thought I mastered before. The entire time, I said to my friends and instructors that even if I made the smallest amount of progress each day, I’d be happy. Internally, that was a hard goal to maintain. I wanted to be awesome and I wanted them to see. Of course it was unrealistic. Even silly. But that’s what I craved.

The first day at Snowmass was smooth sailing. Even though I had to re-learn things I thought I already knew, it felt fairly easy. So when it came time on the second day to pick a goal, I decided I needed to skip from green runs to blue, so I could meet my super-skilled skier friends at the pop-up Veuve Clicquot bar on Aspen Mountain near the end of the day. My progress was far from smooth. I fell what seemed like a million times. My friends always seemed to show up for encouragement right after I’d taken a particularly rough spill, or when I was sitting on the snow—which made me feel like a huge dork. But I also made a little bit of progress and got to the champagne bar.

When the third day of my boarding refresher weekend came, any amount of progress vanished. I let all the spills from the day before erase my confidence. I couldn’t remember simple things because I was afraid to fall. I wanted to quit. In the afternoon, I couldn’t imagine telling my friends about what a hard time I’d had without tears stinging my eyes.

It took more than a few moments, but I eventually remembered how long it took me to master other sports and activities. I let the bad experience motivate me to get out to Buttermilk on the fourth day and commit to the goal I had in the beginning: Even the smallest amount of progress is a win.

A couple of weeks later, I still have some bruises from my weekend, but no longer a bruised ego. I’m OK with being a beginner snowboarder again, and I can’t wait to get back out there.

Filed Under: Colorado Tagged With: aspen, aspen mountain, buttermilk, colorado, learning to snowboard, snowboarding, snowmass

Get Jill’s updates by email!

Primary Sidebar

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Spotlight

An Overdue Update

John Muir, National Parks and Civil Rights: An Interview with Shelton Johnson

How are you holding up? We're eight months into the pandemic in the United States, and many aspects of our lives have … [More...]

Get a Look at My New Book!

As quickly as it came, summer’s nearly gone. While I’d love to say I’m finally coming up for air from a hectic period of … [More...]

Epic Summer

7 Epic Trips

Summer Solstice was just yesterday, and yet it feels as if it's been summer for a while now. At least, I've been … [More...]

More Spotlight

Jill’s Updates

Jill’s Work

  • Writing
  • Books
  • Awards
  • Interviews
  • Speaking & Teaching

From The Blog

  • An Overdue Update
  • Get a Look at My New Book!
  • Epic Summer
  • Pop the Champagne!
  • Announcing @tinylittlevictories
  • Farewell to Winter
  • A Fresh Start for 2018
  • Passports With Purpose 2014: Win Icebreaker Clothing
  • Passports With Purpose: Win Icebreaker Clothing
  • 2012 in Travel Awesomeness
  • Home
  • About
  • Writing
  • Blog
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

Copyright © 2022 · Jill Robinson · All Rights Reserved.